Law enforcement personnel and security guards often carry immobilizing devices, such as pepper spray, tear gas or firearms. Individuals also employ these types of devices to protect against an attacker or aggressive animal. In dark conditions, it is desirable to carry a portable light, such as a flash light, to illuminate the surroundings. Since the simultaneous use of a flash light and immobilizing device requires both hands, this can become unmanageable when the user needs a free hand for another task.
Lighting devices that mount to lethal firearms are well known. These devices allow the use of a firearm and lighting device with a single hand. However, such devices are bulky when mounted to the firearm. Moreover, the lighting device must be separately carried when not mounted.
In many cases, law enforcement and other individuals use non-lethal guns, such as for crowd control. For example, marking guns (commonly known as paintball markers) typically use compressed gas to propel frangible projectiles. Typically, these projectiles are filled with a marking material and/or an immobilizing material, similar to pepper spray.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,512 to Ho et al. describes a paintball marker with a lighting device that mounts to the hopper of the marker. As with other mounting assemblies for lighting devices, the marker described in Ho et al. is bulky. For example, law enforcement personnel would be unable to holster the marker with the lighting device attached. Moreover, the mounting assembly would not be appropriate for non-lethal guns that do not have a hopper.
Therefore, there exists a need for a lighting device that is integral to an immobilizing device.